Bronx Commons will bring 305 affordable apartments and a new music venue to the South Bronx

January 13, 2017

Not only did the Times recently name the South Bronx one of this year’s hottest travel destinations, but the up-and-coming ‘hood has become a hotbed for new development. Many of these include affordable housing, which is the case at Bronx Commons, a mixed-use development in the Melrose Commons neighborhood that broke ground this morning. The $160 million project includes 305 all-affordable apartments, retail, and a landscaped public plaza, all of which will be anchored by the Bronx Music Hall, a new 300-seat venue that will serve as an “arts-centered community hub focused on the deeply rooted history of cutting edge Bronx music,” according to a press release from developers WHEDco and BFC Partners.

bx-music-hall-exterior_credit-wxy-and-local-projects

Bronx Commons is the last undeveloped plot at the 35-block Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area, which was first enacted in 1994. By bringing this new 426,000-square-foot development to the neighborhood, the developers hope to accomplish four goals:

  • Celebrate the rich musical heritage of the Bronx by drawing upon and restoring pride in its history
  • Meet the need for affordable housing options in the Bronx
  • Bring housing together with the arts, open green space, and health and fitness initiatives
  • Utilize the arts as a means of catalyzing the renewal of a neighborhood rich in history and culture

The affordable apartments, a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, hope to attract a diverse group of New Yorkers, ranging from households earning 30 percent of the area media income to 110 percent and including families exiting the shelter system. This includes those earning as little as $4,000 annually up to those earning $115,600. The unit breakdown is as follows:

  • 5 percent for families exiting New York City’s homeless shelter system
  • 10 percent for households at 30% AMI
  • 20 percent for households at 50% AMI
  • 25 percent for households at 60% AMI
  • 40 percent for families between 80%-110% of AMI

bx-music-hall-interior_credit-wxy-and-local-projects

As for the 14,000-square-foot Music Hall, it’s being designed by WXY Architecture + Urban Design (the architects for the greater Bronx Commons projects are Danois) and will include the 300-seat flexible performance space, exhibit areas, music and dance rehearsal spaces, a cafe, and an outdoor performance space and recreation area.

Of the project’s $160 million cost, $11.4 million will go towards the Music Hall. It’s being largely funded with city and state dollars and is expected to be complete in 2019.

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Renderings via WXY and Local Projects

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  1. S

    NO KEEP OUT THE MANHATTANITES!!!!!!! Don’t make The Bronx the new Brooklyn. Give those that live here the knowledge and opportunity to invest and buy the real estate before you offer it to the outsiders.
    Gentrification is apparently inevitable, (which is heartbreaking) but at the very least, give us who lived here our whole lives an equal opportunity to “get rich” as well.
    We don’t want your 80/20 buildings where we live on the first 5 floors (with no view of the city) of your multimillion dollar high rise apt buildings, where we have separate entrances. You might as well put “Whites only” signs on the main entrance. We don’t want your scraps. It’s upsetting to see these people move in and take over. Stay in Manhattan. Remember when no one dared visit the Bronx, lets keep it that way. You, the ones that turnt up their noses and got the eye bulge reaction of “You live in the BRONX!!?? Remember that.
    I saw this coming about 10 years ago when I saw Feta cheese in my local supermarket and since then they’re “improving” the Bronx. Yeah sure… for whom? Not for us. Just FUCK you!